A new study says breast milk from women vaccinated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines contains a significant supply of antibodies that can help keep babies safe.
While there are still many questions about the amount of protection these antibodies offer babies, and how long that protection lasts, researchers say the findings offer another compelling reason for pregnant women, who plan to become pregnant or who are breastfeeding to get vaccinated.
“When babies are born, they have a relatively immature system. It develops over time. Therefore, the main protections that babies receive come from the mother. Therefore, if the mother produces these antibodies present in breast milk, there is the potential for protection that the mother must transfer to her baby, “said Joseph Larkin III, lead author of the study and associate professor of microbiology and cell science with the University of Florida, he told HuffPost, “This is particularly important because babies can’t be vaccinated right now.”
The study, published this week in the journal Breastfeeding Medicine, was conducted last winter when Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines were first made available to health care workers. As such, it was small (limited to only 21 breastfeeding health workers at the time) and did not include the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, although Larkin told HuffPost that this vaccine is now being investigated.
The woman’s breast milk was analyzed prior to vaccination, after the first dose and after the second dose, and, after each shot, the coronavirus antibodies present in the women’s breast milk were increased.
Once women were vaccinated, there was an approximately 100-fold increase in their antibody levels against coronavirus, according to the new study. This is a higher level of antibodies than tends to occur when women are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself.
Even for women who cannot or decide not to breastfeed, vaccination has benefits.
Of course, breastfeeding is a challenge and Larkin told HuffPost that he did not want his findings to unnecessarily put pressure on women who may be struggling or unable to breastfeed. Although most mothers in the United States now begin breastfeeding, less than 60% still do so at six months, and the pressure of breastfeeding can harm women’s mental health.
“As a father of five, I understand, from an outside perspective, some of the challenges of breastfeeding, and I respect that. For those mothers who cannot breastfeed, for many reasons, they should not be discouraged, because only vaccinating provides a layer of protection for their baby, ”she said.
In fact, studies have suggested that SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may travel across the placenta.
Also, when mothers and other people who spend time with unvaccinated babies get vaccinated themselves, they are actually “paying attention” to these babies. Therefore, it can be an important preventative measure in addition to steps such as masking and limiting time in indoor public environments.
The need to vaccinate pregnant women is “urgent.”
Despite the benefits of vaccination for pregnant and lactating women, their vaccination rates remain low. Less than a quarter of pregnant women in the U.S. have received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
However, groups such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said it is “more urgent than ever” to vaccinate people trying to conceive and people who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Unvaccinated pregnant women receiving COVID-19 have a much higher risk of serious illness and hospitals across the country report a rise in pregnant patients. A highly successful fetal medicine specialist in Alabama told The Daily Beast about the “terrifying” toll the delta variant is taking on unvaccinated pregnant women there and said that sometimes doctors had to perform C-sections. emergency in intubated patients. At the same time, cases of pediatric coronavirus skyrocket.
Experts hope that growing research that demonstrates the benefits of vaccination for women and their babies will encourage women to get their hands on it. Young children cannot yet be vaccinated, although they are likely to be eligible for vaccination sometime this fall or winter. But children ages 5 to 11 will probably be ranked first, followed by the youngest.
“The idea of trying to protect those who can’t be protected is very, very important,” Larkin said.
Experts are still learning about COVID-19. The information in this story is what was known or available from the publication, but orientations may change as scientists find out more about the virus. Consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the most up-to-date recommendations.